Friday, June 15, 2012

The Return of The King of Kings

I once heard a Christian say they couldn't wait until the rapture so they could basically gloat and say, "I told you so!" At the time I sort of agreed with them, but it was only a half-hearted agreement.

In that moment when the trumpet sounds and the eastern skies are split wide open to reveal the triumphant return of my savior and King, I don't think I'll have anything on my mind other than rejoicing in His presence and utter, complete and overwhelming joy. I seriously doubt that I will have time to think about those in my life who have ridiculed my belief in the return of Christ Jesus. But, if I do have time to think of it, there will be no sense of "I told you so," but rather, I think there would be a sense of sadness and disappointment that those people will be seeing the truth revealed only to realize that they have missed out. The utter horror they will experience in that moment that will be faster than the blinking of an eye will be so all-consuming and devastating. I cannot feel anything but sadness for them that they will witness the truth before them only to realize that they have missed their chance.

When I think of what I would feel toward those who will not rise to meet Jesus in the clouds, I stop to think of God's heart and how He will feel knowing that so many of those He has loved and called have rejected Him. Each and every one of us knows the hurt, pain and ache of rejection; now just imagine the depths of those feelings in the very heart of God who took on flesh and came to earth to live and died an excruciating and ghastly beating followed by one of the most horrific deaths known to man: hanging on a cross. He did all of that so that each and every person might enjoy the eternal life and love that we will experience in Glory. The best part of that everlasting life will be living in the presence of the living God for eternity without end.

I have loved ones who have passed away that I have no doubt are waiting for me in Heaven, and I have loved ones who have passed away whom I am completely unsure whether they are spending eternity in Heaven or hell; according to what I know, unless they made a decision for Christ in the last hours or days of their life, they are not basking in the light of His love, but I don't know what decisions they made in those last hours and minutes of life. I know that if they did, in fact, call on Him, even with their last breath, then they are forever by His side in Glory. If not, then they are experiencing the most horrible of all torment: the complete lack of the presence of God.

Much has been made over the years and centuries about the horrors of hell: fire and brimstone; the fire that is never quenched, the gnashing of teeth and the other torments that are mentioned not only by the apostles and prophets, but by Christ, Himself. Yet, those will not be the worst torment for those who are cast into utter darkness. That very term refers to the complete lack of God's presence, and that would be the most horrendous fate that I could ever imagine.

As the remaining signs prophesied in the Bible come to pass, as the day draws nearer and nearer to the splitting of the eastern skies, I hope and pray people will respond to the call that God is extending to them. And I admonish all of us to remember that we are not called to be smug or gloat to think about those who will get a wake-up call on that day; we are called to work diligently so that they will be able to fly away in the sweet by and by.

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